An Education Metaphor

I choose to compare school and it's students to a seedling or a greenhouse. When children first arrive at school they are like seedlings. They have just grown and this is their first time being planted away from their parents. Just like a seedling an students is fragile and relies on us (it's teachers) to learn and grow. Just like a seedling would rely on us humans to water it and make sure it is getting the sunlight that it needs to grow. Throughout the years of being in school students begin to grow and develop and figure out who they are as people. They learn what they like and what they don't like, but through every step they depend on their teacher for guidance, whether it is a little or a lot. As a seedling develops into a plant it requires less and less attention from people and lives off of the natural resources of nature. As will a student when they become an adult. A school is like a green house because in a green house they are many different types of plants growing at all different stages and in a school there are many different races of children who are also at different ages and stages in their life. And there is a time in both of these when it is time to move out and enter the real world and take care of themselves.

Social Justice in Education

As teachers entering the field we need to be aware of social justice and know that it is something we need to be able to handle. Social Justice means that we are responsible for the well being of the children in our classroom. We are their protectors and as teachers we are mandated reporters when it comes to noticing anything unusual about a child. We need to make sure that all children are safe and if we notice something about a child then we need to talk to someone who is able to handle the situation. Social Justice also plays a role in how our classroom is set up. For example the classroom should be able to include things that the children have done. The curriculum that is taught should be made up to best fit the students needs and how they are going to learn. There is so much that us as teachers can learn about social justice and make sure that our classrooms follow along and are the way that they should be.

Theorist Montessori

 The theorist I choose was Maria Montessori. She came up with the foundation with concepts that could be applied to all age groups in school. There were certain principals that went along with it and they were Independence, Observation, Following the Child, Correcting the child, prepared environment and absorbent mind. All of these were goals that Montessori used throughout her education. Montessori education uses all of these concepts for what it is based off of. In the classrooms they are trying to make the children independent and allowing them to do things on their own. By this they are given opportunities to do things on their own. Observation was done by the teachers and even parents and it allows the adults to watch how the children learn best and what they are learning. Following the child shows the adult what that child needs and what they need to develop in themselves. Correcting The Child allows them to make mistakes but correcting them in a way where they know what they did is wrong and telling them what the right thing to do is. Prepared Environment makes sure that the environment the child in is safe and that this children are safe.

I choose this theorist because I think that Montessori Education is a good way to teach. I think that this covers a lot of important areas in education and that there is a well rounded balance to the children and the education that they are going to receive. I like this theory because each of these can be used in all age groups of children. So as a beginning teacher if I learn these concepts I can use them throughout my years of teaching, improving with each new age group of kids.


http://www.dailymontessori.com/montessori-theory/

Behaviorism In Education

Why is Behaviorism important in today's education system?

Behaviorism says that human behaviorism is determined by forces in the environment that we cannot control. Behaviorism is important because when it comes to education everyone is going to learn in their own way, and in a way where they can learn the best. Teacher's have a way of teaching things to a class but each student is going to learn in their own way. The teachers will not be able to control it and the environment plays a huge role in how the students work and what they are going to be able to get done. For example when a student goes home they may have the resources to do the homework in the right way. The environment affects what the children are going to get out of school. Depending on what school supplies they are allowed to have they will or will not get the best education out of school like everyone else. I believe that each philosophy has their own role when it comes to the education system and what everyone is going to get out of it. Teachers need to be aware of everything that can affect a child and making sure they are able to get the best education that they can. 

Inclusion in Schools

When you start going to different schools and talking to teachers and just people who work throughout a school you will get many different opinions when it comes to inclusion in the classroom. There are mixed feelings when it comes to the decision of what children should be included in the general education classrooms.

Some people feel that the children who are included in the general education classes because each student has the right to a free and appropriate education in the least restrictive environment. They have given the same education that all of the other children are given.

But some people feel that they aren't going to learn as well. There are more distractions and they may distract the other children that are in the classroom. My own opinion is that it depends on the severity of the child and their disability. If they are going to cause distractions for the other children in the class then they should be in a separate classroom.

Creating A Diverse Classroom

One of the most important aspects of life that we need to teach children is that everyone is different in their own way but that makes us special. Diversity can be a tough topic to deal with especially in schools, not because it's tough to teach but because when dealing with public schools there are many different beliefs by some people. In my classroom I want everyone to know that they are welcome and as a class we will welcome each student and where they are from with respect and we will put in the effort to learn about their own culture.

One approach to creating a diverse classroom that I liked Human Relations Appraoches. I liked these because learning from another student can sometimes be easier and sometimes the kids are more willing to listen to each other rather than an adult. One idea that I had was to put the children into diverse groups and have each group do research on a particular culture. That way they are working together in their diverse groups and also learning about another culture at the same time. We would then have all of the groups present to the rest of the class so they would all get to learn about the other cultures.

I think that as new teachers we need to work hard at making these children have a better chance of accepting diversity when they are older. I think it is easier to teach the children when they are younger rather than trying to chance their views when they are older.

I choose the Human Relations Approaches from the McNergeny book, Chapter 3, Page 53.

How can we put an end to bullying?

Throughout the past few years bullying has become more of an issue throughout schools all over the world. The definition of bullying is to use superior strength or influence to intimidate (someone), typically to force him or her to do what one wants. Bullying happens at every school, whether it is known by the teachers or not. Bullying can be done in person or now with all of the technology it can easily be done over the internet.

There are many ways on how to address bullying. The adults in the building need to respond to the bullying right away, making it known to the children that it is not allowed and will not be tolerated in the school. The website stopbullying.gov gives a couple of things that a teacher can do. They can intervene the situation right away, and separate the children that are involved. The worst thing that a teacher can do is to ignore it and let it happen again and again. Also the teacher or adults should find out what happened and find a way to prevent it from happening again.

Now that most children have facebook and twitter and other online sites there is a greater chance that children will be bullied on there. It is important to teach children about being safe when using a public web page. It is important that they know how to make their things private and also to tell someone if someone is using one of these social networks for the wrong reason.

That brings me to the next thing which is kids are afraid to tell when someone is being bullied because they dont want to be the tattle tale. But it is important for kids to know that being the tattle tale isnt a bad thing. By telling an adult about a situation that you know about they will be able to help out the child and hopefully prevent something from become worse than it was going to get.

I think that as teachers we just need to be aware of what it looks like when someone is either bullying someone else or being bullied. That way we are able to prevent it from happening or stop it from happening. I think as teachers and adults we need to teach the children why bullying is wrong and what it can have as an affect on someone.


Website I used was http://www.stopbullying.gov/index.html

Why Teach?!

There are many different answers to the question "Why Teach?" But are any of them right? Every teacher has their own reason or reasons of why they choose to become a teacher, and why they choose to go through all of the work it took in order to become a teacher. As I researched why people teach I came up with many different reasons. One of the reasons was that the teachers believe that "the children are their most important asset". They want the children to have the best education that they can, and in order for them to have that they believe in putting in the effort to teach. Another reason was because people want to make a difference in someone's life. By teaching you are influencing children everyday. Whether it be a life lesson, or an educational lesson. The children are learning from you everyday. Children especially ones who are younger look up to their teacher, or older authority figure in their life and will learn a lot from someone they spend six hours a day with. One more reason of why people teach is because it runs in the family. A lot of teachers have had other teachers in their family. I know that in my family teaching started with my mom teaching, I always helped out in her class, and I always played school when I was younger. When you have someone older in your life who is a teacher you gets to see what it is like and it gives you an idea if that is something that you would really want to do. Rather than guessing if it is something that you would like to do. I think that everyone has their own reasons as to why they want to teach, and all of them influence that person to become the teacher that they are.

Below are the sites that I used when finding why people choose to teach!



http://calteach.berkeley.edu/CalTeachNewsMar2009.pdf

http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/profdev/profdev114l.shtml